| More gov't troops
deployed to Sulu ZAMBOANGA CITY, (ABS-CBN) - Additional troops were deployed to the besieged
province of Sulu on Saturday afternoon after authorities received reports of increased Abu
Sayyaf sightings in the island.
Some 100 government soldiers were sent to Barangay Kimbangan
in Indanan. Deployed were three army tanks and two MG assault helicopters.
On Saturday, sounds of heavy shelling could be heard from the
Jolo town proper as government troopers continued their operation to flush out the rebels
holding 17 hostages in the province.
Military officials remain confident that members of the Abu
Sayyaf are now cornered in Talipao town.
The military offensives in Jolo that began a few weeks ago has
left the town in ruins as the bandit group seems to evade the onslaught of mortars and
bullets.
News that a faction led by Abu Sayyaf spokesperson Abu Sabaya
has managed to slip out of Jolo for the nearby province of Basilan also persist.
Civilians protest
Meanwhile, the Center for Moro Legal Concerns (CMLC) warned
that several civilian groups in Jolo have taken up arms against the government.
Lawyer Zai-Nudin Malang claimed the government violated five
provisions in the Philippine Constitution with the commencement of the Jolo assault.
The CLMC also condemned the allegedly lopsided media coverage
of the offensives and assailed the travel ban previously imposed by the military on Jolo
and Zamboanga residents who wish to see their loved-ones in both areas.
Relief operations
Aside from the increased deployment of soldiers, the Defense
department announced the release of assistance to strife-torn Mindanao.
Defense undersecretary Stefan Conejos said the war-torn region
has already been given P6,016,000 in donations aimed to help people sheltered in various
evacuation centers all over Mindanao.
He added two more truckloads of relief goods have been sent to
evacuation centers near Jolo.
Conejos said that the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council
has assured them that the needs of the Jolo evacuees in are being met.
Armed Forces chief engineer Gen. Carlos Garcia, on the other
hand, disclosed that President Joseph Estrada has released P12 million to the Armed Forces
of the Philippines for rehabilitation projects in the South.
Garcia also said the reconstruction of several mosques and a
school building destroyed by the ongoing war in Jolo has already been completed.
(With a report from Doris Bigornia)
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